Corima Wheels

Manufacturer Profile: Corima Wheels Review

Corima Wheels has as strong an argument in the bike business as anyone for claiming that they developed and produced the first carbon fiber rim equipped wheels. Like Zipp in the U.S., Corima came into the bicycle world via another industry in France. In Corima’s case, it is aerospace. In general, you won’t get very far in aerospace if you are unwilling to sweat the details and do the research. Corima first started building carbon fiber bicycle wheels in the 1980’s and remains known for their innovative rim and wheel designs. In fact, Corima Wheels was the first company to offer full carbon fiber clincher rims dating back to the 1990’s – a full decade before some of the biggest names in the carbon fiber bicycle wheel business.

Outside of detail and aerospace tolerances, what distinguishes Corima Wheels in the sea of carbon wheels options? One of the biggest things that makes a Corima unique is their rim construction. Unlike most carbon rims that are built with a hollow bladder mold construction, Corima uses a foam core carbon construction (more information on carbon fiber manufacturing can be found in our three part series that starts here). Foam core is different from bladder molding in that a lightweight structural foam core remains inside the rim after fabrication. In carbon fiber bicycle wheels, foam core construction can offer further structural support, additional vibration/noise damping quality and can increase repairability in the event of damage. The result is that Corima Wheels ride smooth and quiet while often being laterally stiffer and more repairable than some other options as well.

Corima offers carbon fiber wheels across three different levels of hubs constructed of aluminum or carbon fiber with stainless steel spokes and they also offer beautiful riding full carbon (spokes/hubs/rim) wheels in their MCC series of super wheels. Corima Wheels is also supported by a dedicated U.S. distributor who goes above and beyond to make sure our Corima riders are well taken care of and served.